Most PCs are connected to the Internet and networks, making easier the spread of viruses, trojans, spyware, rootkits, worms and other malicious programs. They can get into your computer in a number of ways, including via your web browser, e-mail, or in a bundle with a software that you download from the Internet.

The best way to protect yourself is with a virus or malware scanner. Emsisoft Anti-Malware (previously known as a-squared Free) is a program that can be a good choice to scan and remove malicious software from your PC. The new version comes with great improvements and completely re-written dual scan engine for multi-core optimizations which brings a huge speed improvement on average, with the same things being scanned. Also, the false positive handling was improved too and now with the latest version, there is a caching system which makes the scanning faster with every scan.

Also, the user interface has been simplified for better usability and there are lots of usability improvements all around. You can now set missed scheduled scans to run on next program startup and desired actions to be taken on scan completion can be set before the scan now, too. Another important change refers to the licensing system. User accounts are no longer required and it was switched to a simple key-based system.

If you decide to Emsisoft Anti-Malware, you’ll get the full version including all protection features for 30+3 days for free. However, after that period of time, the software switches to a limited freeware scanner mode that allows you to scan and clean your PC whenever you want, but does not include real time protection.